


Still

by larxenethefirefly



Series: hospital AU [3]
Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Light Angst, M/M, Moving In Together, Secrets, dad!Reyes, spoilers for the fic so beware, they deserve to be happy shh
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-11
Updated: 2018-04-11
Packaged: 2019-04-21 14:24:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,227
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14286843
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/larxenethefirefly/pseuds/larxenethefirefly
Summary: It wasn't the first time Hanzo was alone.But it was the first time Jesse had left.





	Still

**Author's Note:**

> This could use a beta but I'm tired of looking at it

Genji was running late, as per usual.

While Hanzo normally took the bus to work, he had spent the night at his brother’s apartment drinking and staying up later than he should have. Genji had dropped him off with a promise to bring Hanzo his wallet and keys after his shift, forgotten in the rush to get to work. It was now thirty minutes after, and his brother still had not arrived.

Plus, he needed Genji’s car to move Jesse out of his apartment. It would be easier with someone there to help.

Three minutes later the chrome monstrosity with green rims that Genji called a car pulled up squealing to the curb. “Sorry I’m late! Traffic was horrible.” 

“We were supposed to be at the truck rental ten minutes ago,” Hanzo pointed out.

Genji rolled his eyes. “Jeez, ever since Jesse left you’ve been a real downer. C’mon, get in. The sooner we can get this over with the quicker we can celebrate.”

\---

_“Hanzo, we gotta talk about this,” Jesse insisted._

_“We can talk later,” Hanzo grumbled, pushing his way into the bedroom. Still, Jesse tried to follow him. “I need a shower, food, and at least nine hours of interrupted sleep.”_

_Jesse looked helpless. “I’m leaving tomorrow. By the time you wake up-”_

_“Then call me after I wake up. I saw two people die on the table today, and I just… really don’t want to do anything right now.”_

_“Hanzo-”_

_“Later, Jesse.”_

_He closed the bathroom door behind him. There was silence on the other side of the door, then the slow sounds of Jesse’s retreating steps._

\---

Hanzo looked around the apartment, at the bits and pieces of Jesse that surrounded him. Two mugs and plates on the drying rack, from when they had breakfast together just three days ago. A discarded red and gold blanket on the back of the couch that Hanzo liked to steal during movie nights. A picture frame of the two of them when the fair was in town, backlit by the ferris wheel and grinning as they crowded each other to fit in the frame. Almost two years ago now- Jesse had won him a giant stuffed charmander. His heart ached as he picked the picture up to examine it. He missed him.

“Hey,” Genji said, coming in from the bedroom. He had a box on one shoulder. “You alright? Sure you want to do this?”

Hanzo took a breath and put the photo in the box. “Yeah. Get those boxes downstairs- we have to return the truck by ten.”

His brother huffed, but squeezed his shoulder as he walked by. Glad for the support, Hanzo went back to packing. 

Genji kept up a steady stream of chatter as they boxed up Jesse’s things, keeping Hanzo’s anxiety over whether or not this was the right thing to do at bay. Still, it was with a bittersweet sort of reverence that Hanzo took one last look around the apartment. It was diminished, somehow. Important, but a space that they would no longer occupy together. 

He placed his key on the counter and left, heart heavy, but knowing it was the right thing to do.

\---

_The bed was empty when Hanzo awoke, and he stared at the space longer than he should have. After a moment, he swallowed heavily and dragged himself out of bed and to the fridge._

_He sat down at the kitchen table, the silence of the apartment pressing on him. The idea of being without Jesse…_

_The alarm on his phone blared again, and he cursed as he fumbled for it. His shift was starting in thirty minutes- he needed to leave soon if he wanted to get to work on time._

_After all, it wasn’t the first time Jesse wasn’t there. He could survive this._

_Still, it was the first time he had left._

\---

Hanzo avoided Fareeha the next day at work. While the security officer didn’t usually frequent the ER, she was still known to drop by and chat with Angela and Winston on her breaks, and the last thing Hanzo needed was for her sisterly instincts to kick in and sit Hanzo down for a lecture. She thankfully decided to be elsewhere for most of the day, only coming by at the end of her shift to bring the staff some of Ana’s brownies.

“Mom wants to know if you’re keeping everything running around here,” Fareeha asked when she caught Hanzo’s eyes.

“As well as I can be,” he assured her, trying not to let his nervousness show. “Her shoes are pretty hard to fill.”

Fareeha chuckled and moved on, and Hanzo let out a sigh of relief. 

By avoiding Fareeha, however, he completely forgot about Reyes.

The older man grabbed Hanzo by the arm as he left the hospital, towing him swiftly away from the ambulance bay and into a side alcove. The paramedic’s stare was hard when he finally stopped and turned to look at him.

“A little birdy told me what happened yesterday,” he said. “Jess was moving out, they said. Funny thing is, he isn’t due back for another five days.”

Hanzo met his gaze evenly. “It’s a big apartment complex. Could be anyone.”

“So you weren’t carrying boxes yesterday?”

“Lots of Japanese men in the city.”

“Said they saw a dragon tattoo.”

“Tattoos aren’t uncommon.”

“Rather specific, don’t you think?”

“Not if you’re from Japan.”

Reyes stared harder, but Hanzo’s gaze was unwavering. Finally he relented. “I’ve got my eye on you, Shimada.”

Hanzo shrugged. “So did the US government when I first came here.”

Reyes snorted. “They had the right idea.”

They were interrupted by Angela. “Hanzo! There you are. Patient in Exam Four is looking for you.”

“Yes, Mr. Caglioni. I’ll be there shortly.”

With a brusque nod at Reyes, he hurried back to the ER.

If he took a moment to settle down and get his heart rate back under control, no one had to know.

\---

_The bed was cold without Jesse in it._

_The first time he had slept over, Hanzo had complained about how hot he was- the man was a walking furnace, and while it made movie night cuddles perfect, Hanzo was sweating under the sheet and quilt. The next morning he had woken up on the edge of his bed with the covers on the floor in a sad pile._

_Jesse’s solution was to sleep naked. Hanzo’s sensibilities shut that down- he was not running out of the apartment naked if there was a fire. They compromised by getting rid of the quilt altogether, and Jesse got to experience silk sheets for the first time._

_Now he depended on that warmth to lull him to sleep._

_Hanzo rolled over to face the wall, squeezed his eyes shut, and pretended that Jesse was just stuck at work._

_Still, though, the emptiness loomed at his back._

\---

Hanzo met up with Genji after the younger man’s therapy session with Zenyatta, carrying lunch for them both. Doctor Ziegler joined them briefly to ensure Genji was taking the proper dosage of pain medication and that he was still attending physical therapy. After reassurance from both patient and colleague, she took a moment to chide about the unhealthy meal (cafeteria chips, cake, and mystery meat) and hurried back to the surgical ward. 

“How does she always know where I am?” Genji wondered, somewhat in awe.

“Just has to follow the sound of childish indignation- hey! I paid for that!”

Zenyatta found them in the middle of the scuffle for the cake, amusement crossing his face. “Am I interrupting?”

“Stopping a theft,” Hanzo said darkly, succeeding in claiming his dessert back in Genji’s distraction. 

“He was being mean, he deserved it.”

Zenyatta laughed. “I’m sure he did. But Genji, do you mind giving me a moment with your brother?”

The green-haired hellion nodded, but he did look at Hanzo with hesitance before leaving the room. Hanzo’s anxiety seized him, but he managed a tight smile back at Genji in reassurance.

When the door closed, Zenyatta gracefully folded himself into a chair. “Your brother told me about you and Jesse,” he said. “A decision such as this causes great turmoil, no matter the circumstances.”

“I stand by it,” Hanzo said quietly, but firmly. His hands were clasped tight in his lap to avoid any unconscious tells. “I’ve never been more sure of a choice before.”

The words weren’t missed by Zenyatta; the monk looked thoughtful, but there was a satisfied smile hovering around his mouth. “I see. Then I offer you my luck and good fortune.”

“Thank you.”

Genji was on his phone when the two exited the room, but he looked between the two sharply. He shook Zenyatta’s hand as the psychologist left, then turned to Hanzo with a questioning look. “I’m alright,” Hanzo said in response, and Genji relaxed.

They chatted about Genji’s classes as they returned to the ER floor, and spent the remaining twenty minutes of Hanzo’s break gossiping about classmates and coworkers with Satya. Since she had worked on Genji for his plastic surgery, she was pleased to see how her hard work had paid off nearly a year afterwards and was more than happy to catch them both up on the drama that occured between the people in her department. Hanzo was more than happy to talk about other people’s lives for once.

Yet he still missed Jesse’s smile.

\---

_Jesse called only once, to update Hanzo on his schedule._

_Except Hanzo was at work and didn’t get the voicemail until seven hours later._

_Still, it didn’t stop him from playing it on repeat well into the night._

\---

Hanzo was eating dinner when the door opened. 

He froze, the fork halfway to his mouth when he saw Jesse standing there, a look of bewilderment on his face. “Han? Why did my landlord call me about my apartment?”

The fork clattered onto the table as Hanzo tripped over the chair in his haste to get up. “You said you were returning tomorrow! How-”

“Caught an earlier flight.” He caught Hanzo as he flung himself into his embrace. “But seriously, why did she…”

His voice trailed off as he finally took the space in. Boxes were still scattered around the room, but the red and gold blanket was draped over the couch, pictures were arranged on the bookshelf, and his favorite mug was on the countertop between Hanzo’s expensive and completely necessary coffee maker and Jesse’s beat up french press. “Wait.”

Hanzo smiled into Jesse’s shoulder blade. “Happy birthday, Jess.”

“You… Hanzo… you really mean it?”

There were tears in Jesse’s eyes, and Hanzo reached up to cup his face. “You asked before you left, and I wasn’t able to give you an answer then,” he said. “But here it is now: I would love to live together, Jesse.”

His cowboy gave a suspiciously wet laugh as he hugged Hanzo tighter, picking up the shorter man and spinning him in a tight circle. “God damn, darlin’, this is the best present I’ve ever gotten. I love you.”

Hanzo continued to smile, nestled in Jesse’s arms at long last. “I love you too.”

\---

_A little after a year into their relationship during a sci-fi movie marathon, Jesse said, out of the blue, “I think we should move in together.”_

_Hanzo, engrossed in the movie, didn’t hear him. It took a moment for the statement to register, but when it did Hanzo startled enough to shower them both in popcorn._

_Jesse merely laughed as Hanzo apologized profusely. “Sorry, it was a little sudden. But I mean it.”_

_The movie was forgotten completely. Hanzo felt a little dizzy. “Jess…”_

_“You don’t have to say anything now,” Jesse said. He was fiddling with the pillow Hanzo had previously been lying on, looking anywhere but at his boyfriend’s face. “It’s a big decision, but… we’ve talked about it. And I think it’s time.” Hanzo moved to speak, but Jesse barrelled on. “We spend most of our time at your apartment anyway, and my lease is coming up at the end of the month. I pretty much just go back to mine to do laundry and get the mail. There’s nowhere else I’d rather be than with you, Han.”_

_Hanzo swallowed. There really was only one thing to do after a confession like that._

_Halfway to undressing, however, Jesse’s phone rang. He groaned, picked it up to growl at them to call back, but halfway through the dismissal he paused and color drained from his face._

_“Jess?”_

_He hung up, taking a shaky breath. “That… uh. That was my Aunt. My... my cousin died.”_

_“Oh, Jess…” Hanzo pulled him close. “I’m sorry.”_

_Jesse had never been close to his family, Hanzo knew, but he still cared for them. Jesse wouldn’t be mourning the death of his cousin as much as the loss of a potential relationship with his few surviving family._

_He booked plane tickets the next day, and two days later, he was gone._

_Hanzo’s mind had been made up the second Jesse had asked him to move in, but with Jesse’s abrupt departure, he had never had the opportunity to tell him._

_Still, Hanzo thought. Just because he never verbally agreed, Jesse knew. He had to._

_He smiled as he left the airport and called Genji upon reaching his car._


End file.
